At 1.30am, however, some of the protesters who left the Bawaslu headquarters began gathering again in Sabang. Despite police officers attempting to push them back by firing tear gas, the numbers had increased significantly by 2.15am.

Meanwhile, most of the protesters in Petamburan were resting around the Petamburan mosque, with foods and drinks brought to them in two cars. The drivers declined to say who had paid for the items.

The riots have claimed the lives of at least six people, with the violence spreading across the country and more people seeking to enter the capital to join the demonstrations.

Demonstrators on Wednesday clashed with riot police in at least six different areas across the capital, including outside the Bawaslu office – where hundreds of masked supporters of Prabowo hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at police at about 7pm.

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Hundreds of people were arrested across Jakarta, including some 72 protesters from the riot at the Bawaslu headquarters, 156 from clashes in Petamburan, and 29 from a riot in Gambir.

In Slipi, rioters on Wednesday night were throwing rocks and shooting fireworks at police officers. Many of those on the front line were young Indonesians who arrived well-prepared with supplies such as masks, sticks and toothpaste to reduce the effects of tear gas used by riot police.

A protester denied that rioters were to blame for waging violence. “We weren’t the ones that provoked the riot. It was the police who tried to disperse us with violence,” he said.

At a clash in Sarinah, Tanah Abang, protesters were seen using slingshots to fire marbles at police. Rioters also set a police post on fire at about 9.20pm, said a local resident. The violence looked set to continue overnight.

Elsewhere at about 10pm on Wednesday, a riot erupted 800km away from the capital in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, with protesters blocking a bridge as they faced off with police. Two police posts were burned down and about 38 people were arrested.

A police office in Tambelangan, Sampang Regency of Madura Island, was burned down. A police truck was also set ablaze by the protesters, who stormed the post at about 10pm.

Rioters in Jakarta earlier on Wednesday accused the police of defending the “unfair election”, and said they would not back down.

“They are provoking us. The police tried to disperse us and prevent us from expressing our rights to protest,” said Hasan Ali, a 29-year-old protester from Bandung who travelled to Jakarta.

“We will not back down. We will keep fighting. We only responded to police violence. They shot us with tear gas. It shows clearly that they are guarding this fraud and unfair election.”

An ambulance was seized in Jakarta on Wednesday evening after it was discovered to have been carrying rocks.

A riot police officer, who declined to be named, said the demonstrators were “violating the regulations of mass gatherings”.

“They should be dispersing themselves before 7pm, according to law,” said the officer.

“They provoked us by burning things on the roads, and trying to push to enter the Bawaslu office. We all are tired and they keep provoking us. None of us are using sharp bullets. It’s totally a big lie.”

Prabowo on Wednesday urged all sides to refrain from violence.

“I urge all sides, the people who are expressing their aspirations, the police, the military and all sides to refrain from physical abuse,” the former general said at a media briefing.

“For those who still want to listen to me, avoid physical violence. Avoid verbal abuse as that can also provoke, what more in the holy month of Ramadan,” he added.

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Jokowi said there would be no tolerance for security disruptions.

“I will work together with anyone to advance this country, but I will not tolerate anyone who disrupts the security, democratic processes and unity of our beloved nation,” said Jokowi, flanked by the military chief and other top leaders.

“There is no choice, the military and police will take firm action in accordance with the law.”

Rudiantara, the communications and information technology minister, said features of social media platforms would be restricted on a temporary basis to prevent the spread of hoaxes and inflammatory content.

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He said messaging systems would still work for text and voice messages, but photos and videos would be blocked or slowed.

Indonesian authorities have for the past few days announced that police and military securing the demonstrations would not be armed with guns and live bullets, but shields, tear gas and water cannons.

Police spokesmen said if any shootings broke out, it would not be from “the police or military”.

Tito told a press conference that several protesters were arrested with envelopes totalling 6 million rupiah (US$410) and admitted to being “paid” to demonstrate.

He said the people who died in the rioting were hit by gunshots or blunt devices. Authorities are still investigating the death causes and are not ruling out the involvement of third parties acting as provocateurs.

“There are attempts to create martyrs, blaming security officials for building public anger,” he said.

The riots began on Tuesday night when supporters of Prabowo tried to force their way into the downtown offices of the election supervisory agency, and continued through the night, National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said. More than 20 suspected provocateurs were arrested.

“As per 9 o’clock this morning, there were 200 people hurt being brought to five hospitals,” Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan told broadcaster TVOne.

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“The number of people dead was six,” he said, adding that hospitals were conducting post mortems to determine the cause of death.

KompasTV showed protesters throwing rocks, a paramilitary police dormitory on fire, and hundreds of riot police in a central neighbourhood. Eleven cars and three houses were burned.

The rioting in Jakarta was planned and not spontaneous, police said.

Officers found an ambulance filled with stones and some of the dozens of people arrested had envelopes of money, said national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal.

Many of those arrested had come from outside Jakarta, he said.

“We are seeking justice. We are protesting against an unfair election and massive fraud,” said a protester who gave his name as Rusli, 25. “We are coming here on our own initiative despite police trying to prevent us from entering Jakarta. We are not going to stop until we get justice.”

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Another protester, high school student Rusdi Karim, 15, said: “I joined the protest to defend Islam, to defend our nation from being ruled by a Muslim who never shows his willingness to protect and to defend Islam.”

One of the people killed had been shot through the chest, according to the hospital that treated him, raising speculation that a sniper may have been involved.

Former special forces general Prabowo has refused to accept the results and declared himself the winner. His campaign plans to challenge the election in the Constitutional Court. They allege massive fraud but have provided no credible evidence. Prabowo also lost to Widodo in 2014.

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“The bottom line is the people who are protesting and rioting in the past 24 hours represent a small minority of Indonesian voters and a small minority of Indonesian Muslims,” said Alexander Arifanto, an Indonesian politics expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

“The vast majority of both clearly accepted the election results. By tacitly backing the protesters, Prabowo has lost any remaining legitimacy he had left and clearly shows his true colours as a narcissistic New Order-era relic,” Arifanto said, referring to the Suharto era.

The government had deployed some 50,000 police and soldiers in Jakarta in anticipation of protests, said Yuwono. Many residents have left the city and parts of the downtown area are closed to traffic with the election supervisory agency and election commission barricaded with razor wire.

In the past week, authorities have arrested three pro-Subianto activists on suspicion of treason, said Prasetyo, including a retired general and former commander of Indonesia’s special forces. Police allege there was a plot to seize crucial government buildings in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, the hashtags #TangkapPrabowo or #ArrestPrabowo have been trending on Twitter.

Additional reporting by Associated Press and Reuters